What Is The Art Of Fulfilment

A natural part of everyone’s life journey is when reach a point and ask themselves what they what out of life. No doubt you’ve asked yourself that question on many occasions too, right?

If you were to ask a room full of people what they want out of life, there is no doubt that one, or many would answer “I want to be happy“.

That’s absolutely great but I don’t think enough of us really know what it means to be happy. What is true happiness to you? From what I’ve seen personally, of the answers that people give, they’re not quite sure what it is or how it looks. They have an idea, but they don’t clearly define it for themselves in order to know what that is.

At a surface level, we feel happy when someone pays us a compliment or gives us a gift. Things like that change our state temporarily. Other events can make us feel the opposite just as quickly like when your boss shouts at you.

I do want to be happy but the kind of happiness I’m talking about goes much deeper.

Real happiness is a state of being beyond any kind of temporary elation.

I may feel happy when I buy the latest gadget before anyone else, but as soon as a newer model is released, that happiness is no longer there. Then I want the newer model. 😆

Happiness is being present and feeling a sense of gratitude and appreciation.

But, it’s only half of the equation as far as I’m concerned. The other side of the coin is responding to my various needs, desires and goals. I don’t want to question them, but I do want to do something about them.

They are the two sides of my nature and that of all humans. I believe if you neglect either then you can never truly feel a sense of fulfilment.

There is a wonderful quote by Jim Rohn that sums this up so eloquently:

Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want.

I would like to amend it slightly and add my own flavour to that quote:

“Learn to be grateful for everything in your life right now, as it is, whilst continuing to grow and strive for even higher levels magnificence.”

The word fulfilment, to me, is more whole and encompasses both states of being. It embraces both aspects the human persona.

For me, true happiness and fulfilment is about learning to be totally grateful for everything in my life and being immersed in this moment. In addition to that, it’s about having goals, planning for the future, knowing clearly what I want to be, do and have and bringing all my aims to life. It’s about enjoying the journey to the goal and recognizing my achievement.. It’s about creating more and then repeating the process.

Fulfilment is about recognizing the whole picture in all areas of my life and realising the power I have to be able to shape my life into that which I desire. It’s about addressing the needs in every area of my life and making sure they are met. The areas of relationships, financial, spiritual, business, career, social, and emotional.

Tony Robbins talks about fulfilment in the context of 6 human needs and I can totally relate to those but I also feel like there’s still more. For example, the point I mentioned above about loving now and wanting more.

The journey of fulfilment is an act of fulfilment.

It truly is an art to lead a fulfilling life. All of us are capable no matter what may be going on in our lives. Even the bad things that happen are a part of your fulfilment as they equip you with knowledge, resourcefulness, resiliency and strength.

I am by no means perfect at this nor do I have all the answers, but I feel like I have a good idea about this subject. Even when I don’t know, I experiment and even that experimenting is all part of feeling fulfilled because I’m satisfying a need in me.

I encourage you to think more about your own fulfilment. Think beyond just a single layer of happiness and look at the bigger picture. Look at what it means to you and your life to find what would give you a sense of fulfilment. Then, work at it and remember that it part of the entire whole happy life experience.

2 Responses

Hey bro,
Loved this article. In the words of Iyanla Vanzant: “What you focus on, grows!” – being truly content in the moment can reap rewards, but constantly focussing on what you don’t have is a huge sign of being unfulfilled.
Great post : )
Milumi